Rep. Eric Swalwell threatens lawsuit against DA Pamela Price over "malicious" statements
A war of words between Rep. Eric Swalwell and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has heated up, with the congressman threatening a lawsuit over "malicious" statements about his past as a prosecutor in the DA's office.
"Your false public statements and posts about Congressman Swalwell were widely disseminated and almost certainly made in retaliation for his support of the recall campaign against you," Swalwell's attorney Charles Stone wrote in an Oct. 19 letter to Price.
Swalwell, a Democrat representing California's 14th District, is demanding a retraction within seven days to avoid a lawsuit. It's the second such demand letter sent to Price in recent weeks, the attorney said.
"As Congressman Swalwell advised you just days ago in his letter to you, these allegations are false and scurrilous. Your non-response was deafening," Stone stated.
In a lengthy Facebook post on Oct. 2, Price took aim at Swalwell, who was formerly an assistant district attorney in the Alameda County office. Price said she had found instances where previous district attorneys had systematically excluded Jewish, Black, and gay jurors from serving on death penalty juries.
Price said "many are left wondering" if Swalwell was supporting the recall to shield himself or former colleagues.
"What is the Congressman trying to keep hidden, and why is he so eager to see DA Price removed before more is uncovered?" Price wrote.
Swalwell's attorney said Price's statements were undoubtedly a response to the Congressman's announcement on Oct. 2 that he supported the recall campaign against her.
"As part of the ad hominem attack on my client's personal and professional integrity, you even disseminated the easily checked falsehood that he had previously endorsed the death penalty," Stone said.
"In what would seem to be the most deliberate and malicious aspect of your false attacks, you raised the sinister implication that my client's actions were motivated by a desire to 'hide' something, 'shield himself' from being 'implicated in unethical practices,' and that the 'truth would reveal uncomfortable connections.'"
If a retraction isn't forthcoming within seven days, "we will be forced to move forward with next steps," Stone wrote.
Swalwell announced his support for the recall effort in early October, maintaining Price had "failed the victims of violent crime, and their families."
Price did not directly respond to a request for comment about Swalwell's demand for a retraction on Thursday, but her Protect the Win Campaign issued a brief statement, saying "Our constituents would be better served if Congressman Swalwell focused less on trying to overturn the will of the voters and more on defending our democracy."
Earlier this week, former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley announced that she also was backing the recall of Price, saying the current DA is unfit for the office.
"She's used this office improperly. She uses it to intimidate. Of course, she takes any chance to criticize me erroneously for things that I didn't do," said O'Malley during a virtual press conference Wednesday morning. "She discriminates against people she doesn't like or even people of color. And she creates a hostile work environment for many of the hard-working, highly ethical lawyers, victim advocates, administrative staff and investigative staff, so that many of them have eventually left."
Price responded later that day during her own press conference discussing her office's review of 35 death penalty cases for possible misconduct in which former prosecutors allegedly excluded Black and Jewish jurors. Price said her office found evidence that a former senior prosecutor covered up evidence of that misconduct and that it happened under the supervision of then Chief Deputy DA O'Malley.
That former senior prosecutor is now a sitting judge.
"I think what the public should know, and what I presume, is that Ms. O'Malley must have received word about this press conference today and that we were at a point where we felt compelled to reveal to the public the kind of complicity in this office to prosecutorial misconduct," Price said.
DA Price said the investigation into the alleged coverup is ongoing, and when asked her thoughts on O'Malley endorsing Price's recall, Price had the following to say.
"What the public should know is that this is a sign, apparently, that we must be getting close to uncovering the role that Ms. O'Malley played as the former leader of this office when this prosecutorial conduct was taking place."